Apple has killed off its worst iPhone charger

Apple 5W USB charger
(Image credit: Future)

Apple's 5W USB Power Adapter appears to have been killed off, with the product now unavailable via a number of Apple online stores around the world.

The 5W USB Power Adapter remains available for order in the United States and a handful of other countries, but Macotakara notes that the item is unavailable elsewhere. Countries including Australia, China, Japan, and a number of European countries all report that the product is now "sold out" entirely.

Good riddance

The 5W charger was bundled in every iPhone box all the way until Apple ditched the charger with the release of iPhone 12. That charger uses USB-A and charges at just 5W, making for anything but a quick top-up. Modern iPhones can charge at up to 20W, for example.

Apple's 5W charger featured "an ultracompact design," with Apple also claiming that it was capable of "fast, efficient charging at home, in the office, or on the go." That description was very much out of date, however, given the charging capabilities of modern iPhones and iPads.

The 5W charger was also shipped with every Apple Watch until last year's Apple Watch Series 7 arrived, with the wearable now coming with its own USB-C charger. That's expected to continue with the arrival of this year's Apple Watch Series 8, of course.

While Apple has yet to officially confirm that the 5W USB Power Adapter is no longer a product that it intends to sell, it seems likely that the company is simply selling through its remaining inventory in its international stores.

While Apple appears to be discontinuing products, all eyes are firmly on new ones that are expected to be just around the corner. A new line of iPhone 14 models is thought to be inbound, with an announcement likely taking place next month. New Apple Watches could follow, while new iPads and Macs are in the cards before 2022 comes to a close, too.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

Latest in Apple
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Apple Logo behind a waterfall
Apple loses $14bn Irish tax case against the EU
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
How to re-watch Apple's iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 event
Glowtime 2024
Every Apple product discontinued after the iPhone 16 event
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
Listen to all of the music from Apple's 'It's Glowtime' September event
Apple logo with US dollar bills
Apple could get a major fine the day after the iPhone 16 reveal event
Latest in News
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Jony Ive
Jony Ive’s OpenAI hardware device could be his next world-changing design
NEBULA Cosmos 4K SE with Apple TV
This new 4K projector is tempting me to replace my LG C2 TV, just so I can watch Slow Horses on a 200-inch display
VisionOS 2 app reorganization
visionOS 2 is the first major software update for Apple Vision Pro, and now it's available
macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia (version 15) is now available for your Mac with some big upgrades
watchOS 11
watchOS 11 is now rolling out to all Apple Watch users with the Series 6 or newer